


CLERF Rhetoric

by purglepurglepurgle



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Dark Satire, Darkfic, Gen, I daresay General Affairs are involved, dark humour, general hideousness, in-universe tumblr post, mention of shinra science department, political fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-11 10:15:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28469643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purglepurglepurgle/pseuds/purglepurglepurgle
Summary: CLERFs are just terrible! Find out why!Darkfic.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	CLERF Rhetoric

**Author's Note:**

> This one's very dark. And ugly. Compared to the average blog on tumblr it is at least fictional, but this fic is not the place for you if you're looking for escapism or trying to avoid politics/nastiness in general. It's another that was drafted over the summer (and is the last one!). I'm not sure how to balance tagging against not wanting to tell a reader what to think, so I'll just say that if you skim-read, you'll have a bad time. I prefer the text to do the talking, and to leave my commentary to the end.
> 
> I’m imagining this fic as the in-universe equivalent of a tumblr post, so if I had CSS skills, I'd style this like that. Instead, I suggest imagining it with some sort of pastel background, surrounded by photos of baby animals doing cute things, comedy gifs, and motivational art reassuring you that you're hot no matter what.

bluesuitsandsocks writes:

_Hey, y’all! Here’s that essay we’ve been promising for forever! Yes, it’s the one about CLERFs. Yes, this is your cue to block for a bit if you don’t want your dash getting stunk up with CLERF bullshit! Ready? Right then, off we go!_

**What is a CLERF?**

A CLERF is a _Child Liberation Exclusionary Radical Feminist_. Right away, you can see that sounds like a bad thing. And it very much is! Except, it's _so much worse_ than you think. We've put together this masterpost to take you for the full tour, however nauseating it may be, so buckle up, folkaroos, because we're in for one heckity-heck of a bumpy ride!

We'll tackle the 'feminist' part first. If there's one thing you take away from this post, it should be this: CLERFs ARE NOT FEMINISTS. In fact, they're the thing farthest from it! They've appropriated the word to give themselves a veneer of respectability so they can infiltrate _real_ feminist groups and spread their poison, but once you peek below the surface, things get pretty putrid fast. Some people recommend calling them 'SHITs' (Sovereignty-Hating Irrational Tyrants), to distance them from the 'feminist' label. But for now, unfortunately, CLERF is the term most people have heard. You may come across claims that 'CLERF is a slur'. This is a CLERF dogwhistle, and anyone saying that is a CLERF.

**But what does it mean?**

So, Child Liberation is pretty self-explanatory. It's the human right of all children to to choose their OWN path in life, and to determine their futures for themselves. CLERFs oppose this principle, because they don't think children are people. They think children are mindless dolls, who live to serve them and should do as they say.

“ _But how could anyone believe that? We were all children, once. We all remember having thoughts and feelings, don't we?”_

Well, that's exactly it. CLERFs _know_ they're full of shit. CLERFs _know_ they're misrepresenting children, but they don't care. Anything for control. At best, these are bitter old women, alone and friendless, who take their frustration at their sad, empty lives out on everyone else. At worst, these are evil hags who get a thrill out of restricting other people, and fetishise it, and, for whatever reason, focus their fetish on children.

That’s bad enough, but it gets worse. You see, CLERFs, like all bigots, are rigid in their thinking, and not too bright. They don't understand that a 'child' is a cultural construct; there is no such thing as a 'child'; it's merely a convenient label for a set of factors (eg: age, biological development, life experiences) which _can_ go together, but can also diverge. CLERFs cling to an overly simplistic and outdated 'chronological age' model, because their prejudicial mindset can't withstand any more nuanced view. Any scientist will tell you that, along with chronological age, which is mostly irrelevant, you also have a _biological_ age, which can differ from your chronological age-- by up to twenty years! Just look at progeroid syndromes _, natural_ conditions in which you age faster than other people. If you age faster, then it follows that at any age, you're older than people of the same age. Physicists have a word for this: relativity. On an intelligent, forward-thinking understanding of the universe, everything is relative. And that's before we even consider _immunological_ age. So the number of years you've been around actually has very little bearing on your age, as Shinra scientists have proven with all the most advanced genetic research to date. This is why modern scientists prefer to talk in terms of _temporal-identity,_ which is more accurate.

(Sidenote: This comes as no surprise to those of us who always knew we were unusually mature when we were children, those of us who felt like _we_ were the adults for as long as we could remember. We're sure some of you reading along know what we mean! So for anyone reading and thinking, 'hey, that sounds kinda like me!'-- we've been there! We see you and we know exactly how you feel. You _are_ not like the other kids; your temporal identity is out of sync with your chronological age-- but you are not alone. We are here. We know that a mismatch between chronological and temporal-identity correlates with thoughts of suicide, and people with this mismatch in identity are at heightened risk of experiencing some form of abuse. So it's important that society treats you according to your _real_ identity, so you can live a happy and fulfilling life, free to be yourself without the constant anxiety. We can help you get everything set up; you can talk to us any time you want, for any reason whatsoever, if you need to. We’re just a private message away!)

Back to the point. Science is finally starting to unravel the mysteries of temporal-identity, so in theory, we should all be able to celebrate this new medical breakthrough and be pleased about the addition to human knowledge. But there's a snag. CLERFs prefer to ignore cutting edge biology, because it contradicts their bigoted views. They prefer to spew hatred, promoting hysterical screeds which have been thoroughly debunked. They refuse to accept that age is a social construct and bears little resemblance to physical appearance or years spent on this planet. Even though two seconds of thinking would make this obvious; pick any physical feature, and you'll see it's a spectrum; there is no physical feature that reliably marks the difference between adults and children. Human height, for example, varies widely; there are some 11 year olds who are taller than some 30 year olds. And as for biological processes, some people go through puberty at 7, some at 17. And so on. Any reasonable person would look at this wonderful confusing tangle and see that we need systems that acknowledge and celebrate individual diversity, and that we should not force anyone into an outmoded system which assigns them one single, ill-fitting 'age'. It's patently ludicrous.

But CLERFs just can't bear to be _wrong_. Instead, they drone on about long-discredited 'biomarkers', in their desperation to prove adult superiority. They share opinion pieces on brain development with a fervour that frankly reeks of ableism. (By the way, if you see anyone using dogwhistles such as 'prefrontal cortex' or 'peer pressure', you're safe to assume they're a CLERF.) Their science is just as trash as their opinions, but they don't care; they're happy to ignore Shinra expertise if it means they can spend all day doing the intellectual equivalent of huffing their own farts. There's a strong argument to be made that these farty farty fartfaces are more childish than the 'children' they claim to be defending, and perhaps should have a few more restrictions on their own freedoms! But the international CLERF database is still in its infancy, unfortunately, so we'll have to wait for a while before we can hold them to account. And in the meantime, CLERF rhetoric is deeply patronising, harmful, and damaging to the people it pretends to 'protect'. So it’s important to be able to recognise it so you don’t get tricked into interacting with CLERFs.

**So what do CLERFs look like, in the wild?**

Let's consider a few examples. Shinra is historically imperfect, but one area in which it has always been surprisingly progressive is its anti-CLERF stance (though it's maybe not surprising that being anti-CLERF leads to success!). Shinra has always offered children many opportunities to develop, discover themselves, and flourish. Shinra trusts children to know their own minds. So it's no surprise that CLERFs keep screeching about Shinra.

For example, CLERFs may seek to deny children of their human right to heroism, by trying to ban children from SOLDIER. Not only is this deeply immoral, as it's literally a violation of their human rights, it neatly demonstrates that CLERFs don't see children as the equals of adults. Children don't get to think, feel, _choose_ ; they must just do whatever CLERFs say. So, CLERF-rhetoric exists to dehumanise children and justify child-exploitation, which really does tell you everything you need to know about CLERFs.

What's more, CLERFs' ridiculous hypotheticals reveal CLERFs' unhealthy obsession with gore and violence. They may scuttle around trying to disguise their ends by pretending to have a more general 'anti-military' position, but rest assured, they just hate children. Top scientists have proven beyond a doubt that by the age of 12, the average child's brain is capable of making complex decisions. And that's just the average! This is why the age of consent for Shinra military service is 12. This is NOT up for debate. Only the most extreme and ridiculous conspiracy theorists and science-deniers continue to pretend that it is. And, as hopefully we have made absolutely 100% crystal clear by this point, we also _know_ that 'children' are a cultural construction; when it comes to science beyond the 'common sense' and 'basic biology' that CLERFs so love to shriek about, there is no such thing as a 'child'. But most CLERFs fail even basic biology. They just want to fantasise about violence directed at children.

(Louder for the people in the back: **THERE IS NO. SUCH. THING. AS A CHILD.** **)**

CLERFs also kick up a stink about jenova-injections, making vague but unfortunately loud noises about 'side-effects' and 'irreversible damage'. This hatred of modification comes from a belief in an ideal, perfect, 'natural' body, and is rooted in the supremacist belief that some bodies are inherently better than others. Do you need to change your body for any reason? CLERFs hate you. CLERFs would literally rather see you dead, just as they'd rather see children dead than children with bodily autonomy. Sometimes the mask slips when they bring up the words 'gene-alteration' or 'rapid mutation'. Human genes mutate all the time; it's normal. And more than that, it often results in evolutionary _benefits_! We're all here today because of adaptations our ancestors successfully mutated. Changes upon changes. All perfectly safe. But if CLERFs can convince people that accelerated-mutation is somehow immoral, or that genes are intrinsically tied to being human, they're one step closer to convincing people of other abhorrent CLERF beliefs. Whenever you see this foul rhetoric, stamp it out. Diversity is beautiful. Full stop. A child with wings is just as valuable as a child without. And anyone trying to deny a child's personhood based on the configuration of their shoulderblades is a piece of shit, and quite frankly, the world would be better off without them.

Another evil of the CLERF position is that it harms people in poverty. For example, Shinra is currently trying to put through a bill that would cut through the red tape, and reduce the Corel mine-working age from 18 to 8. This is important, because many families need as many members working as possible, to bring home enough money to live, especially poorer, marginalised families, and particularly minorities. But right now, nobody under the age of 18 can work. 17 and 11 months? Sorry, CLERFs believe in some mysterious metaphysical difference that comes into effect on one's 18th birthday. They're age-essentialists. As we've seen, they refuse to acknowledge the obvious fact that people develop at different rates. And they're not even consistent; we know that dogs have a mental age of 2, yet CLERFs are fine with _them_ helping in the mines. This exposes CLERFs' hypocrisy and their disregard for lives that don't suit their agenda; if they cared, you'd think they'd be out in the streets protesting about dogs. But they're not. Because in reality, they wouldn't mind if every dog died tomorrow (in fact, they'd probably celebrate it, since one of their core tenets is human-supremacy, with a VERY narrow definition of what it is to be 'human').

Also, of course, this just drives child-mining underground. Children already work in the mines, they just aren't able to get a fair wage, because if they speak up they risk being arrested for illegal mining. So the mines they can currently choose between are illegal, unregulated, dangerous mines. You may hear some sneakier CLERFs claim they want to 'criminalise the mine-owners, not the children'. This sounds more reasonable, if you only spend about 2 microseconds thinking about it. But if you use your brain, you can see it's a trap. It obviously doesn't work, because there will always be demand for coal. At best, CLERFs are hopelessly naive on this point-- but more likely, this is intentional violence. They don't see children as people, remember, _especially_ children from impoverished backgrounds. So, say you make it illegal to put children down a mine. It doesn't matter if it's legal for the children themselves, no legitimate mine will employ them. And we get the same situation, where children will only have the opportunity to work in the most dangerous mines, where the owners don't care about the law. Does that sound fair to you? Or does that sound like a _fucking terrible_ _idea_?

As a matter of urgency, we need to legalise putting kids down mines so that the kids can be safe. Mining work is work, even though classist CLERFs turn their noses up at it and try to deny the humanity of miners. And yes, CLERFs will gleefully promote scare-stories and misinformation about mining injuries, despite the fact that these are rare and there are robust protections in place. Because they don't care. Theirs is a project of fear. At heart, they just want to persecute poor people, and further marginalise them-- and again, indulge in violent fantasies.

They also oppose child-smoking, because of _course_ they do.

By now, you're getting the picture. These are nasty and perverse gadflies who hide in plain sight by disguising their toxicity in a miasma of 'legitimate concerns' and 'safeguarding'. Don't be fooled. There's a reason everyone despises them. Some of them can seem quite nice from a distance. It's an act, to draw in more followers. At best, they're mind-blowingly arrogant and misguided. At worst, they want to murder all children who don't perfectly resemble them.

But there's hope. Yes, CLERFs are an extremely powerful and extremely dangerous threat, funded as they are by webs of dark money and supported by all the nastiest bigots-- but they are, at the end of the day, a tiny minority. Right-thinking people don't want anything to do with them. We can fight back. We'll fight them, we'll crush them, and we'll destroy everything they stand for. Because this is what it means to be on the right side of history.

**How can I be a force for good?**

The best way to combat this virulent plague is by keeping even a fucking shred of decency, humility and kindness. Just try not to be the shittiest person ever, and-- shock! horror!-- you'll be okay. And if you find yourself slipping into CLERFland, just stop yourself with a quick "Who am I? Why the fuck do I think I know more than top scientists? Why the fuck do I think I'm in a position to judge others' choices? Why the fuck am I so desperate to deny other human beings their rights to self-determination and fulfilment? Why the fuck can't I mind my own business and maybe try not being literal excrement?" Hey, presto! You are no longer a CLERF shitstain.

If you see a CLERF in your neighbourhood, the responsible thing to do is to punch her in the face, though that might be impractical because CLERFs have thick skulls and you don't want to hurt your fist. The next best thing is to report her to Shinra; a CLERF with no job is a CLERF with no money to spend on dangerous anti-children campaigning. Run her out, keep her out, warn your friends so they can do the same. She can have a job and a place to sleep when (and only when) she learns to be a decent person. Because this is the path she has _chosen_ ; she's choosing to batter minorities and deprive others of their human rights, and at any time she wants she can simply _stop_ being a noxious CLERF and be reintegrated into society. Boycott hate, re-educate! (And in the meantime, fumigate!)

If we want a brighter future, we all need to work together. So, every time you see a CLERF open her mouth, shout over her. Drown her out. Remember, kids, SHITs belong in the sewer. Do everything you can to clean them out of every public space they ooze their way into; wipe them up before they can smear themselves over everything; treat them as you would treat any other toxic fecal matter. Harassment is usually wrong, but CLERFs are the special exception, because their entire life is devoted to harming children, and it's important to keep them scattered and afraid so they can't ramp up their tyranny.

Tomorrow is ours!

#fightoppression #childrensrightsarehumanrights #clerfsdoNOTinteract #fuckcapitalism
    
    
      wtaf is this
    
      wait do people even put dogs down mines
     
       shinra probably do tbf ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  
    
      someone actually linked me this as a 'CHECKMATE LADIES'
    
      oh my god 'deny their personhood' no we just think it's maybe bad to experiment on kids how is this so hard to understand
    
        oh, they understand, all right  

**Author's Note:**

> Beyond general tumblr/reddit/twitter fuckwittery, this is, of course, inspired by the infamous: <https://archive.is/YYWhH>. I would not describe it as fun reading, but there is some dark humour in how the blogger just can't stop the psychopathy leaking out, despite the concerted effort to look righteous. I tried to emulate the progression, but I don't think I'm pompous enough to pull it off, tbh.
> 
> (Random note: aside from the more obvious depressing stuff, it is also depressing to see how effective "These women are gross and evil and probably _old_! Blow raspberries at them! Don't listen to what they're actually saying, they're booooooring!" has been as a rhetorical tactic in fandom so far. I try to remember that a lot of people supporting this haven't delved into the history or the gory details and are just going off the fun and flashy stuff they see on twitter/tumblr, trusting other users to characterise things accurately, but there's a point where you start to wonder what it's going to take before they realise what they're cheering on.)
> 
> Anyway, I continually return to a silly quasi-AU idea in which Shinra pays Reno an ungodly amount to keep two blogs: an environmentalist-themed YA book blog where he 'educates' teens on what he terms social justice and what he terms feminism, telling sob stories about his childhood and encouraging his fans to bully each other in the comments in order to create a safe space-- and a mockery site where he screencaps the very same discussions and pokes fun at what he characterises as the left, for the amusement of the pro-Shinra crowd. Once they've left enough offensive comments, he pastes the most extreme to his YA blog, exploiting the difference in how the two audiences understand certain keywords (and sometimes inventing the new meanings for them), the cycle repeats, and the anger escalates. On his pro-Shinra blog, he encourages his audience to be edgy and sarcastic, and he makes sure the perjorative terms for the YA blog crowd reference trees, plants, and caring for others. The YA blog discusses such subjects as 'why opening a post with 'hi' is problematic'; fans are encouraged to start their posts with 'hx', and to demand that others do the same across the internet, to break down oppressive, conservative expectations around language. Every so often, Reno slips in a petition to remove some piece of regulation, claiming it is cruel and discriminatory, and promotes his preferred alternative; his fans take his word for it. He also does a lot of valuable work raising awareness about 'problematic people', encouraging his fans to cut off relatives who do not adopt the language he promotes, and directing the odd brigade. If you're ever feeling down after reading some questionable online analysis, I cannot overemphasise the enjoyment of going 'Ah, a post by Reno The Feminist'.


End file.
